United States v. Shawn Vaassen, No. 18-1047 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Per Curiam - Before Wollman, Bowman and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing Guidelines. Anders case. Defendant's sentence was not substantively unreasonable or an abuse of the district court's discretion. [ August 01, 2018
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United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 18-1047 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee v. Shawn Jerome Vaassen lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Dubuque ____________ Submitted: July 30, 2018 Filed: August 2, 2018 (Unpublished) ____________ Before WOLLMAN, BOWMAN, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. After Shawn Vaassen pled guilty to wire fraud and firearms offenses, the parties stipulated to an upward departure under U.S.S.G. §§ 5K2.0(a)(3) (departure based on circumstances not otherwise adequately taken into consideration), 5K2.2 (physical injury), and 5K2.6 (weapon possessed or used in commission of offense); and the government moved for a downward departure under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 (substantial assistance to authorities). After accepting the departures, the district court1 sentenced Vassen to a prison term within the resulting Guidelines range. His counsel has moved to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), arguing that the sentence was substantively unreasonable. Upon careful review, we conclude that the district court did not impose an unreasonable sentence. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461-62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (discussing appellate review of sentencing decisions); United States v. Dalton, 478 F.3d 879, 881 (8th Cir. 2007) (extent of downward departure for substantial assistance lies within district court’s discretion and is virtually unreviewable on appeal). Additionally, having independently reviewed the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we grant counsel leave to withdraw, and we affirm. ______________________________ 1 The Honorable Linda R. Reade, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa. -2-
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